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Gun control! For or against?
- Ready, aim, fire! Get your point across.
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- NON-PAID ASSIGNMENT
- FORMAT:
- ENDS: 21/10/2008 10:00 PM GMT
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What the 2nd Amendment is REALLY for...
Dr. Gratia-Hupp speaks to representatives, pulling no punches. Suzanna witnessed first-hand her parents shot dead by a "lunatic" and explains why she doesn't even blame the gunman, per se.
Who does she blame?
Watch this short clip and find out the silent gunman really is, and who Suzanna feels is ultimately responsible for the merciless death of her parents; and watch as Suzanna points out who we really need to protect ourselves from.
Spoken like a true American, and from someone who's honestly been there with something truly important to lose, as we all do.
...how does Brave'World do it? ... "PSSST! DO SOMETHING!" =) Dr. Gratia-Hupp speaks to representatives, pulling no punches. Suzanna witnessed first-hand her parents shot dead by a "lunatic... more -
Palin sought to ban books as mayor, brought wedge issues into local politics
...In the first major race of her career — the 1996 campaign for mayor of her hometown, Wasilla — Palin was a far more conventional politician. In fact, according to some who were involved in that fight, Palin was a highly polarizing political figure who brought partisan politics and hot-button social issues like abortion and gun control into a mayoral race that had traditionally been contested like a friendly intramural contest among neighbors.
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Vicki Naegele was the managing editor of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman at the time. "[Stein] figured he was just going to run your average, friendly small-town race," she recalls, "but it turned into something much different than that." Naegele held the same conservative Christian beliefs as Palin but didn't think they had any place in local politics.
"I just thought, That's ridiculous, she should concentrate on roads, not abortion," says Naegele.
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Governing was no less contentious than campaigning... At some point in those fractious first days, Palin told the department heads they needed her permission to talk to reporters. "She put a gag order on those people, something that you'd expect to find in the big city, not here," says Naegele. "She flew in there like a big-city gal, which she's not. It was a strange time, and [the Frontiersman] came out very harshly against her."
Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." That woman, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving "full support" to the mayor. ...In the first major race of her career — the 1996 campaign for mayor of her hometown, Wasilla — Palin was a far more conventional po... more -
WE SELL GUNS! - with no ID required in 32 US states
Nice campaign just launched in Denver to raise awareness of how easy (no ID, and no background check), it is to get hold of a gun across nearly TWO THIRDS of the states in the USA.
Though perhaps the subtlety may actually only be preaching to the converted - sadly no url on the billboards for more info.
Great guerilla effort lined up for Denver around the convention here...(with the stophandgun violence.org tag)
http://www.adrants.com/images/gun-show-tear-sheets.php
d Nice campaign just launched in Denver to raise awareness of how easy (no ID, and no background check), it is to get hold of a gun acro... more -
Curfews for American cities
HARTFORD, Connecticut - The police state has not arrived quite yet but it may feel like it to the residents of some American cities, where a handful of embattled mayors and police chiefs are imposing strict and sometimes sweeping curfews as a last resort to quell new waves of gun violence this summer. HARTFORD, Connecticut - The police state has not arrived quite yet but it may feel like it to the residents of some American cities, w... more
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Federal Goverment wast tax money to "increase gang control " in small to...
"You don't want people who are violent carrying firearms," said Troy Eid, U.S. Attorney for Colorado and a leader in the expanded crime-fighting effort.-
To develop more cases, Pueblo police a few months ago set up a joint operation with agents of the principal federal gun law enforcement agency, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The police department dedicated two officers and the ATF assigned two agents to work as a team at police headquarters, Deputy Police Chief John Ercul said. The agents previously worked at the bureau's Colorado Springs office. Ercul said the arrangement is an asset in the department's crime-fighting cabinet. "You don't want people who are violent carrying firearms," said Troy Eid, U.S. Attorney for Colorado and a leader in th... more -
US school triggers outrage by letting teachers carry guns - Scotsman.com News
ACROSS the globe teachers are struggling to keep dangerous weapons out of classrooms. But now a tiny Texas district has sparked outrage by allowing teachers to bring handguns to school.
While the move has been welcomed by America's gun lobby it has been widely condemned by teaching groups and parenADVERTISEMENTts.
The 110-student campus will be the first in the world to allow teachers to carry guns while working.
David Thweatt, Harrold's superintendent, said the school board unanimously passed the policy in a bid to safeguard pupils in the event of an armed intruder entering classrooms.
School board member Sarah Winkler, vice-president of the Texas Association of School Board, said she was horrified and claimed she was unaware that school trustees could overturn the law.
"This is just appalling," she said. "One accident and I don't know how the school board would live with themselves. Individual school boards should not the type of power to be able to do this."
Gayle Fallom, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers, was equally outraged, and said: "This is a disaster waiting to happen. It is right up there with the worst ideas in the history of modern education."
Fallon said that if the policy was adopted elsewhere it could lead to students stealing their teachers' firearms.
"We could end up arming half the gangs in Houston," she said. "This is the type of decision that makes Texas a laughing stock both nationally and internationally." ACROSS the globe teachers are struggling to keep dangerous weapons out of classrooms. But now a tiny Texas district has sparked outrag... more -
Texas school district lets teachers carry guns
HOUSTON (Reuters) - A Texas school district will let teachers bring guns to class this fall, the district's superintendent said on Friday, in what experts said appeared to be a first in the United States.
The board of the small rural Harrold Independent School District unanimously approved the plan and parents have not objected, said the district's superintendent, David Thweatt.
School experts backed Thweatt's claim that Harrold, a system of about 110 students 150 miles northwest of Fort Worth, may be the first to let teachers bring guns to the classroom.
Thweatt said it is a matter of safety.
"We have a lock-down situation, we have cameras, but the question we had to answer is, 'What if somebody gets in? What are we going to do?" he said. "It's just common sense."
Teachers who wish to bring guns will have to be certified to carry a concealed handgun in Texas and get crisis training and permission from school officials, he said. HOUSTON (Reuters) - A Texas school district will let teachers bring guns to class this fall, the district's superintendent said o... more -
Gun-control groups fear activist was NRA spy
PHILADELPHIA - A gun-control activist who championed the cause for more than a decade and served on the boards of two anti-violence groups is suspected of working as a paid spy for the National Rifle Association, and now those organizations are expelling her and sweeping their offices for bugs.
The suggestion that Mary Lou McFate was a double agent is contained in a deposition filed as part of a contract dispute involving a security firm. The muckraking magazine Mother Jones, in a story last week, was the first to report on McFate's alleged dual identity.
The NRA refused to comment to the magazine and did not respond to calls Tuesday from The Associated Press. Nor did McFate.
The 62-year-old former flight attendant and sex counselor from Sarasota, Fla., is not new to the world of informants.
She infiltrated an animal-rights group in the late 1980s at the request of U.S. Surgical, and befriended an activist who was later convicted in a pipe bomb attack against the medical-supply business, U.S. Surgical acknowledged in news reports at the time. U.S. Surgical had come under fire for using dogs for research and training.
McFate resurfaced in Pennsylvania and has since spent years as an unpaid board member of CeaseFirePA and an organization called States United to Prevent Gun Violence. She also twice pushed unsuccessfully to join the board of the nation's largest gun-control group, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. PHILADELPHIA - A gun-control activist who championed the cause for more than a decade and served on the boards of two anti-violence gr... more -
Gunman opens fire on swimmers in Wisconsin; 3 dead
A man wearing camouflage clothing and carrying an assault rifle walked out of the woods and gunned down four young people who had gathered at a river to go swimming, killing three of them and wounding one.
More than 100 law enforcement officers from at least 10 agencies searched Friday for the gunman, a middle-age man who was last seen near the town of Niagara in northern Wisconsin, across the state line from Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Officers set up roadblocks and evacuated an unknown number of homes.
Nine young adults had gathered near a railroad bridge on the Menominee River when the gunman came out of the woods and opened fire about 5:30 p.m. Thursday, according to Sheriff Jim Kanikula.
Authorities have not determined a motive. The sheriff said there was no communication between the gunman and his victims.
The shooter was only 7 to 10 feet away from one victim when he fired, the sheriff said.
On Friday, two of the bodies remained at scene about three miles west of Niagara because of fear that the shooter was still in the area.
The dead were identified as Tiffany Pohlson, 17; Anthony Spigarelli, 18; and Bryan Mort, 19. A fourth victim, 20-year-old Daniel Louis Gordon, was wounded.
Niagara is about 210 miles north of Milwaukee. A man wearing camouflage clothing and carrying an assault rifle walked out of the woods and gunned down four young people who had gath... more -
Angry man shoots lawn mower for not starting
"A Milwaukee man was accused of shooting his lawn mower because it wouldn't start. Keith Walendowski, 56, was charged with felony possession of a short-barreled shotgun or rifle and misdemeanor disorderly conduct while armed.
According to the criminal complaint, Walendowski said he was angry because his Lawn Boy wouldn't start Wednesday morning. He told police quote, "I can do that, it's my lawn mower and my yard so I can shoot it if I want."
A woman who lives at Walendowski's house reported the incident. She said he was intoxicated.
Walendowski could face up to an $11,000 fine and six years and three months in prison if convicted.
A call to Walendowski's home went unanswered Friday morning." "A Milwaukee man was accused of shooting his lawn mower because it wouldn't start. Keith Walendowski, 56, was charged with f... more -
Gun scare prank
A husband sets off firecrackers as his wife is handling his gun.
While I can find this is amusing, this just makes me scared of being an American.
Git-r-done! A husband sets off firecrackers as his wife is handling his gun. ... more -
Disney Employees cant take Guns to Work
The controversial new law says people can take their guns to work if they keep them locked away in their cars, but Disney says it's exempt and its 62,000 employees had better keep their guns at home.
Central Florida's largest employer says it's exempt because the park has fireworks on its property. The NRA and Disney have a different take on the exemption in the law and it may end up in court. In the meantime, Disney isn't taking any chances. It sent an email to all of its workers telling them not to bring guns to work.
NOW why would anyone need a gun to work (exception of cops of course)! The controversial new law says people can take their guns to work if they keep them locked away in their cars, but Disney says it'... more -
Lock and Load Some Common Sense
The Second Amendment is one example of the Constitution getting it - if not wrong - at least too vague. Rather than interminable arguments over the issue, it's time for both sides to cool their jets and shoot for common sense solutions. The Second Amendment is one example of the Constitution getting it - if not wrong - at least too vague. Rather than interminable argum... more
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Half of US gun deaths are suicides
55% of gun related deaths are suicides, a person is more likely to kill themself then to kill others around them.
By AP/MIKE STOBBE
(ATLANTA) — The Supreme Court's landmark ruling on gun ownership last week focused on citizens' ability to defend themselves from intruders in their homes. But research shows that surprisingly often, gun owners use the weapons on themselves.
Suicides accounted for 55% of the nation's nearly 31,000 firearm deaths in 2005, the most recent year for which statistics are available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There was nothing unique about that year — gun-related suicides have outnumbered firearm homicides and accidents for 20 of the last 25 years. In 2005, homicides accounted for 40% of gun deaths. Accidents accounted for 3 percent. The remaining 2% included legal killings, such as when police do the shooting, and cases that involve undetermined intent.
Public-health researchers have concluded that in homes where guns are present, the likelihood that someone in the home will die from suicide or homicide is much greater.
Studies have also shown that homes in which a suicide occurred were three to five times more likely to have a gun present than households that did not experience a suicide, even after accounting for other risk factors.
End of Excerpt
Full Article at Time Magazine's web page, link below
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1819165,...
Poster Script: I believe this furthers the fact that guns are dangerous. 55% of gun related deaths are suicides, a person is more likely to kill themself then to kill others around them. ... more -
NRA targets San Francisco gun ban
Targeting San Francisco, the National Rifle Association is attempting to overturn the city's gun ban. The move was prompted by a recent Supreme Court decision not to grant Washington DC a handgun ban.
"The National Rifle Association sued the city of San Francisco on Friday to overturn its ban on handguns in public housing, a day after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a handgun ban in the nation's capital.
The legal action follows a similar lawsuit against the city of Chicago over its handgun ban, filed within hours of Thursday's high court ruling.
In San Francisco, the NRA was joined by the Washington state-based Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and a gun owner who lives in the city's Valencia Gardens housing project.
The gun owner, who is gay, says he keeps the weapon to defend himself from "sexual orientation hate crimes." He was not identified in the complaint because he said he fears retaliation.
Mayor Gavin Newsom said the city will "vigorously fight the NRA" and defended the ban as good for public safety.
"Is there anyone out there who really believes that we need more guns in public housing?" Newsom said. "I can't for the life of me sit back and roll over on this. We will absolutely defend the rights of the housing authority."
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said that the Supreme Court ruling didn't address gun bans on government property and that he is "confident that our local gun control measures are on sound legal footing and will survive legal challenges"."
By Paul Elias and Associated Press staff Targeting San Francisco, the National Rifle Association is attempting to overturn the city's gun ban. The move was prompted by a... more -
Guns in the USA
'Gun rights' activists have won a controversial ruling in the US supreme court, which overturned a previous handgun ban in Washington DC.
The controversy surrounds the interpretation of the second amendment to the United States Constitution, which states: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
The motion was passed after the court ruled for the first time that "the Constitution confers an individual right to gun ownership", and critically that this right goes, "beyond providing for "a well regulated Militia", as the amendment states."
Part of the voting majority (which won on a narrow margin of 5-4), 'arch-conservative' Justice Antonin Scalia, wrote, however that the ruling "is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose." While this may superficially appear to be detrimental to gun restriction movements, Dennis Henigan, a vice-president at the Brady Centre to Prevent Gun Violence, believes that the ruling indicated that "regulation of guns ... is entirely permissible." and that "The ruling gives a constitutional green light to a wide range of gun restrictions.".
The importance of the ruling however, is not simply a case of gun control, but specifically of the banning of guns, and it is the failure of the court to endorse this specifically that worries some; with Richard Daley, mayor of Chicago, calling the ruling "a very frightening decision".
Other senior figures, such as Justice John Paul Stevens of the voting minority, criticised the majority for "its expansive reading of the amendment's "ambiguous" text." The wording of the amendment is obviously outdated: the days of Militias in the US are obviously over; the term being a relic of the time when such armaments were commonplace.
By ignoring the significance of the "Militia" part of the amendment, the Court has made it a "constitutional right to own and use firearms for private purposes". The logical progression from the apparent choice to interpret the second part of the amendment separately is to pose the obvious question: if part of the amendment can be ignored, why not all of it?
Responses from those in the know about American politics would be welcome. 'Gun rights' activists have won a controversial ruling in the US supreme court, which overturned a previous handgun ban in W... more -
Supreme Court clings to guns and Constitution
For the first time in history, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued a definitive ruling on the right of Americans to own guns. A five-to-four majority of the court ruled that individual citizens have the right to own firearms, and in the process it struck down a 32-year-old ban on handguns in the nation's capital, Washington, D.C. VOA National Correspondent Jim Malone has more on the high court's landmark ruling from Washington.
Writing for the five-member court majority, Justice Antonin Scalia said the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does protect the rights of individuals to own firearms for personal use.
Legal scholars have long debated whether the Second Amendment guaranteed the right of individuals to possess firearms, or if it merely applied to state militias.
Attorney Alan Gura says the high court's historic ruling makes it clear that individuals do have a constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Gura represented a Washington, D.C. resident who wanted the city's 32-year-old ban on handguns struck down.
"People do have an individual right to keep and bear arms, that is very important to remember. That means that the government cannot ban handguns, it cannot regulate guns out of existence. We feel today is a fantastic day for liberty once again," Gura said.
Gura represented security guard Dick Heller. Heller lives in a high-crime section of Washington and challenged the city's handgun ban so he could defend himself.
Among those welcoming the high court's decision was President Bush. The White House issued a statement saying the president strongly agrees with the court's majority opinion.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain also praised the decision as a landmark victory for freedom in the United States.
Democratic candidate Barack Obama issued a statement that said the court decision will provide guidance to local communities trying to balance the rights of gun owners with the need to protect citizens in high crime areas of the country.
Gun control advocates were disappointed but not surprised by the Supreme Court ruling. 'We are obviously disappointed and disagree with the majority opinion. This takes off the idea that you can have a near total ban on guns, especially guns for self-defense,' said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence. But Helmke noted that in his majority opinion, Justice Scalia said that although the court recognizes an individual right to bear arms, that right is not unlimited.
In his opinion, Scalia said the ruling should not be used to cast doubt on existing gun control laws that keep guns out of the hands of convicted criminals and the mentally ill, and prevent weapons from being carried into schools and government buildings.
The high court last took up the issue of the Second Amendment and gun ownership in 1939, but legal scholars say the court at that time did not directly settle the question of whether individual citizens have a right to bear arms. For the first time in history, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued a definitive ruling on the right of Americans to own guns. A five-to-... more -
Supreme Court rules in favor of gun ownership rights - Yahoo! News
The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Americans have a constitutional right to keep guns in their homes for self-defense, the justices' first major pronouncement on gun control in U.S. history. The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Americans have a constitutional right to keep guns in their homes for self-defense, the justices... more
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US supreme court overturns Washington gun ban
The US supreme court today overturned an anti-gun law considered the strictest in the nation, affirming that Americans have a right to own firearms for self-defence in its first ever ruling on the issue.
In a narrow 5-4 decision, the judges struck down the 32-year-old gun ban in the city of Washington, passed to fight urban crime, as incompatible with the second amendment of the Constitution.
"Whatever the reason, handguns are the most popular weapon chosen by Americans for self-defence in the home, and a complete prohibition of their use is invalid," the conservative Justice Antonin Scalia said, writing for the majority.
The ruling could persuade rightwing groups to mount similar challenges to local gun bans across the US, although the judges carefully defended the need for firearm bans in schools and public buildings.
The gun case sent shock waves through the presidential campaign, as John McCain attacked Democratic rival Barack Obama for deeming the Washington gun ban constitutionally correct in February.
McCain also revived Obama's comment earlier this year that small-town Americans desperately cling to guns in times of economic hardship.
"Unlike the elitist view that believes Americans cling to guns out of bitterness, today's ruling recognises that gun ownership is a fundamental right -- sacred, just as the right to free speech and assembly," McCain said. The US supreme court today overturned an anti-gun law considered the strictest in the nation, affirming that Americans have a right to... more
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